SYNOPSIS

DESCRIPTION

cap_get_file() and cap_get_fd() allocate a capability state in working
storage and set it to represent the capability state of the pathname
pointed to by path_p or the file open on descriptor fd. These
functions return a pointer to the newly created capability state. The
effects of reading the capability state from any file other than a
regular file is undefined. The caller should free any releasable
memory, when the capability state in working storage is no longer
required, by calling cap_free() with the used cap_t as an argument.
cap_set_file() and cap_set_fd() set the values for all capability flags
for all capabilities for the pathname pointed to by path_p or the file
open on descriptor fd, with the capability state identified by cap_p.
The new capability state of the file is completely determined by the
contents of cap_p. A NULL value for cap_p is used to indicate that
capabilities for the file should be deleted. For these functions to
succeed, the calling process must have the effective capability,
CAP_SETFCAP, enabled and either the effective user ID of the process
must match the file owner or the calling process must have the
CAP_FOWNER flag in its effective capability set. The effects of
writing the capability state to any file type other than a regular file
are undefined.

RETURNVALUE

cap_get_file() and cap_get_fd() return a non-NULL value on success, and
NULL on failure.
cap_set_file() and cap_set_fd() return zero on success, and -1 on
failure.
On failure, errno is set to EACCES, EBADFD, ENAMETOOLONG, ENOENT,
ENOMEM, ENOTDIR, EPERM, or EROFS.

CONFORMINGTO

These functions are specified by withdrawn POSIX.1e draft
specification.

NOTES

Support for file capabilities is provided on Linux since version
2.6.24.
On Linux, the file Effective set is a single bit. If it is enabled,
then all Permitted capabilities are enabled in the Effective set of the
calling process when the file is executed; otherwise, no capabilities
are enabled in the process's Effective set following an execve(2).
Because the file Effective set is a single bit, if any capability is
enabled in the Effective set of the cap_t given to cap_set_file() or
cap_set_fd(), then all capabilities whose Permitted or Inheritable flag
is enabled must also have the Effective flag enabled. Conversely, if
the Effective bit is enabled on a file, then the cap_t returned by
cap_get_file() and cap_get_fd() will have the Effective flag enabled
for each capability that has the Permitted or Inheritable flag enabled.